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who realized that he had "a fellowship of hearts to keep and cultivate," and he was true to the trust. One of his last works, just completed at the time of his death, was to write to isolated members and send them the minutes of the late Yearly Meeting. He made "many channels for the streams of love, where they may broadly run," and will be very greatly missed. in many directions.

His deep interest in the INTELLIGENCER was well known, and no one took more interest in increasing its usefulness. It was his habit to call attention to its pages on many occasions, and to mention any matters of moment as they appeared.

He has been an elder for many years, and was one of those who wisely interpret the duty of an elder to be to encourage with tender solicitude rather than to find fault and criticise. He was a cementing influence, and won others by his love. Young and old were glad to be in his company. He was at one time superintendent of the First-day School, and always deeply interested in it, attending when health would permit, to the close of his life. He was also treasurer of the school, for many years, rendering most efficient service. He looked forward with happy anticipation to attending the approaching Conferences at Richmond, next summer, in which he felt much interest.

He has filled the position of correspondent for the Yearly Meeting for a long period, and was the custodian of the safe in which are deposited its valuable records. He was also the very efficient Recorder of Whitewater Monthly Meeting. In all these positions his services were invaluable, and it will require many willing hands and consecrated hearts to take up the duties he has laid down, and many years of faithful service to qualify others to reach the standard of excellence he had attained. His measure of "loving service" was indeed "pressed down and running over." Men grow from stature to stature, and happy is he who reaches the height attained by Benjamin Strattan, whose modest estimate of his own merit would cause him to disclaim the words of praise which those who knew him best feel that he richly deserved. On the Fourth-day before his death he attended meeting as usual, took dinner with his daughter in the city, and made a social call in the afternoon. In the evening he was present at the Friends' Social, and enjoyed supper and mingling with his friends, apparently to an unusual degree. It was his final benediction and farewell to the friends and meeting he so truly loved. Death's fingers gently touched him about midnight of the next day, but he lingered, conscious to the last, until about the meeting hour on the next First-day, Twelfth month 12, when he entered into his rest. A few intimate friends and neighbors gathered at the home of his daughter Mary Shute, at 12 o'clock on the Fourth-day following, and shortly after the sad cortege moved slowly to the meeting-house where, many Friends of both branches were already assembled.

Words of comfort and consolation, and commendatory of the life so nobly lived in our midst, were spoken, the Christian's hope was presented, and vocal expression given to the prayer which doubtless filled

many hearts, that the Father would draw closer and closer the children and grandchildren and friends who mourn, and bid them not look for the living among the dead, but to follow in a dear father's foot-steps to that realm of light and life from which a radiance may shine upon us here if we will keep our eyes turned to the Source of all light, with the determination to follow His commands.

His loved form was carried to its last resting place by his grandsons. "To live in the lives of those who love us, is not to die," and surely the rich legacy of his worthy life, based on everlasting principles of truth and purity, will appear and re-appear in the lives of those who are bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh, as well as in the many friends bound to him by tender ties of affection. F. M. R.

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To no work might Sir Philip Sidney's injunction, "Live ever, sweete Booke!"

be more fitly applied than to the "Essays of Elia." There is about the writings of Charles Lamb an enduring charm; his is one of the books the world will not willingly let die; and he is read and re-read by each new generation, while many mightier works of his contemporaries have long since tasted of the waters of Lethe. It is through his style that this gentle author has become a classic; he is one of those whose names live upon the lips of men, because he had that fine, incommunicable gift of clothing his every utterance with beauty and distinction. The exquisite grace of his essays, their limpid flow of delicate wording, their quaint drollery, and their subtle pathos, tempered always with a sentiment kindly and humane,-have given them a very high place; indeed, to me certain of his passages are among the most beautiful and rememberable in the whole range of English prose.

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And the man's own character, as revealed in the essays surely all must love the genial "Elia," who had so tender a sympathy for the unhappy and the lowly, for beggars and little chimney-sweeps and other poor waifs of the street; whose "fresh and unspoiled heart" was so touched by the little joys and griefs and dreams of childhood; who recalled youthful memories of summer days in fragrant, old-time country gardens, and among the faded splendors of ancient manor-houses. "The aroma of the past" filled his imagination, and he paced the silent halls of the decayed South Sea House, and pondered with pleasant fancy upon the whimsies of its venerable clerks.

* Select ons 'rom the "Es-ays of Elia," by Charles Lamb. Edited by Caroline Ladd Crew, B. A, Instructor in English, Friends' School, Wilmington, Delaware. Boston: Leach, Shewell & Sanborn, 1897.

He had a worshipful regard for the half-forgotten poets of Elizabethan days, and taught us to honor the quaint wisdom of the seventeenth century worthies with whom Barton would have him ranked. He said many a wise and winning thing about the Quakers; and "lover of London" that he was, he gave to the streets and temples of England's antique metropolis a yet deeper poetic glamor and old-world charm. No man of his time, not even the great-hearted Scott, seems more endeared to us by force of his personal character; and assuredly no man of any age has exhibited sa rare a fortitude and serenity under the shadow of a life-long domestic sorrow.

To make a choice from Charles Lamb's works is no easy matter, but the editor has achieved her task well, and has given seventeen representative essays, from "Oxford in the Vacation" to "Old China." Her preface, introduction, and notes are valuable accompani- | ments of the text. The preparation of the book has been for her a service of love, and in her essay introducing the work she has written of her author with delicate appreciation and sympathy, and not without a flavor of expression caught from this delightful master of reverie,—as in the following characterization of his literary style and personal charm. In his essays, "more than anywhere else," writes she, "is revealed, without a touch of vanity or self-assertion, the perscnality of the author, the man Charles Lamb. Here is .elt the childlikeness of his genius in the subtle simplicity and picturesqueness of his vocabulary, and in his sense of pleasure in the homely and familiar. Here are reflected his odd ways, his exquisite fooling, his pathos, and his large-hearted tolerance of human ollies. It is not easy to analyze the homely magic of Charles Lamb's style, to say just what it is that pleases us, but we like it all the better for its sweet, elusive favor. The emotion with which we regard him is intimate and personal. We feel that he can never be as other men are; that it is the unique individuality of the man, as well as his loyal, self-forgetful life, which we love. Indeed, no more lovable figure appears in literary history than that of the dainty, whimsical essayist. One must come with kindred insight and sympathy to appreciate the personality shadowed forth in his works; for it is only to the lover of that exquisite spirit that his prose yields all its sweetness."

Charles Lamb found much to admire in Quaker character and in the journals of the early Friends. He it was who delighted to escape from "the janglings and nonsense-noises of the world," and find rest and peace "for a quiet half-hour, upon some undisputed corner of a bench, among the gentle Quakers." It is not unfitting, then, that this book should come from a teacher in one of our Friends' schools; and the little volume may be commended to all teachers who would lead their students to a love of one of the most wholesome and sunny of English authors.

Swarthmore College.

JOHN RUSSELL HAYES.

"TRUTH should be the first lesson of the child and the last aspiration of manhood."

INDIANS' "OUTING" A CENTURY AGO. (Continued from last week).

TENTH month 31st. A fine mild morning. Those young Friends who reside here, under the patronage of the Yearly Meeting, perhaps are equal to any that could be found, but their renting a house of an Indian, and their confinement to domestic concerns or demands, are apparent obstructions to their being of that utility which the present disposition of the Natives calls for. It is evident that some well-qualified woman to cook and mend for them, and leave them at liberty for more important service among the natives, is needed. In consequence of this I committed my thoughts in writing, also that these women Friends should instruct the Indian women and girls in house-wifery, without which an imperfect and slow progress will be made. Walking around the neighborhood of the Oneida reservation, with Jacob Taylor, it was observed that a mill for these Indians would be very useful, under the care of Friends, and give those young men who are here a further place among the Oneidas. It is one powerful reason, these people assign, that there is little encouragement to raise grain, for they have no mill to grind it where it is raised. A few spades among the natives here would be of singular service. Since these Friends have resided among the Indians, they have laid aside many of their idle customs, and become more serious. Therefore there is ground to hope this Nation is preparing to receive the seed of the everlasting Gospel.

Ist Eleventh month. Very fine morning. Had a conference with the principal chief of the Oneidas about the girls. His remark fully agreed with my friend Jacob Taylor's ideas and mine, viz.: that those who go out of the young Indians often learned wrong habits, and he quoted some instances in the neighborhood. He further observed that they would rather the sons of Onas (meaning the followers of William Penn) should have their people and children than any other people; but their judgment was for our people to come and instruct them, which would better preserve their morals and be of greater utility among the Indians. This they always understood would be the case, from the first proposal made by the Committee, some of whose names he mentioned. In answer to all this, I replied, "Great trees grow slowly." He called upon me twice after this to write a piece for their Nation. At first application I rather declined; but upon the second application I complied, well knowing what they requested was the mind of Friends, and also of Government. When it was written they conferred together about its contents. The next day I was informed by their chief they approved thereof, and he gave me a name I thought and am sure no way suitable for my small abilities. The purport of the piece was to warn of some bad tenants who had settled on their lands, contrary to law.

2d. This morning was week-day Meeting at the house. Moderate fine weather. My companion continues ill. I am favored with health from the Giver of every good and perfect gift. Being frequently in com

pany with the Stockbridge Indians, I perceive they are superior, especially the women, to many under our name who make a high profession of religion.

3d. Mild morning. An Indian brought us some fine fish this morning. Traveling through this settlement, I beheld the pleasant situation of the houses of the natives, on a rising ground near some clear running stream, surrounded with trees which are ever green. My mind was considerably humbled in seeing the manner in which the Indians live, and how free they were of those cares and wants that luxury and pride hath introduced, consequently less afflicted with those disorders which are so prevalent among the rich, or those of a higher class of life. Their composure and serenity are remarkable, for after a long absence of an Indian they do not show that ecstasy that we do at meeting ; but when a suitable time offers, he says, "Sat andosvy Gawchee "; i. e., "So friend, art thou still in the valley of tears ?" At a late treaty with the deputation from Congress, I was informed, the Indians met to describe the bounds of their lands, when a young man of their tribe was permitted to speak, which was to this purport: "He who causes the sun to rise, beyond the tip of the Eastern hills, and set below the brow of the Western mountains, that hath clothed the wilderness with leaves, and disrobed them again in the fall, it is He alone who hath set bounds to our country." This speech so surprised the auditory, though men of great ability, that they knew not what reply or answer to make, which I believe concluded the business.

4th. A fine mild morning. Notwithstanding the Oneidas have not made that improvement the Stockbridge Indians and some other tribes have, yet even they have raised more corn this season than any heretofore, and one of them three hundred bushels. This is an encouraging prospect.

5th. Favored with health. My companion labors under the affliction of, ague. A cloudy and rainy morning, and John Tuhi and George Crosby came three miles through it to see us. These men are of another tribe, and appear superior to many of us who are of a fairer complexion, both in respect of sobriety and understanding. Their remarks were, on sundry matters, edifying. In speaking of a schoolmaster's qualifications, one of them observed what sort of a master they wanted or required amongst them,"Not one who was qualified to teach children and keep the school orderly, but one who was an example to their parents." These Indians offered us their horses to ride to their Nation, and they would walk on foot, being about seventeen computed miles along or through a country almost impassable at this season; but I could not receive their creatures upon such kind terms. At meeting this morning. A numwas very stormy. I thought this a day of refreshment, both in our little sitting at meeting in the morning, and in some remarks made by the natives.

6th. A cold morning, the wind northeast. The waters high in the creeks from the thaw of snow, and intending for Stockbridge on foot, my companion be

ing much reduced by his illness, together with some baggage we had to take, it seemed a little difficult; but He who is a present help was near to provide, for a Stockbridge Indian came to the house at the hour we intended to depart, and took our burdens. The chief of the Oneidas came and bid us farewell. I had cause of thankfulness from my feeling for being here; believing the Lord is bringing about a great work in the earth. A Baptist minister was here at Stockbridge. The Indians showed him our certificate, to which he expressed his approbation and offered us his horse for a few days. We were informed here that the Oneidas" conclusion not to send any girls from their Nation had such an effect upon the Tuscaroras that notwithstanding we had delivered clothing for their children we had to recommend them to deliver the clothing to those who voluntarily offered. those who voluntarily offered. We could have had many more of the Stockbridge children than were specified in our certificate, but to keep as near as possible to what was therein recommended was our earnest desire. My companion was so ill, as he traveled along, that be begged me to let him lie down on the wet logs, which I could not suffer, and whether he would be able to reach the houses of the Indians we intended was uncertain, the road being so very miry. This young man's illness was a great exercise, not only at this time, but at many others. At last we arrived at our Indian brother's, where we were treated with great kindness and my companion with hospitality.

7th. A fine morning. My mind often felt the sweet influences of Divine goodness, and could behold its salutary effects among some of these Indians, Their penetration and judgment in religious matters are very evident and striking, which will appear in the following narrative. Two ministers under the patronage of some Members of Congress, and the Society for Propagating the Gospel, went to reside among the Indians in order to preach the Gospel. When these, with their retinue and books arrived, a conference was held with some of the chiefs, when it was proposed to the Indians to call a council. When met, they were informed they had brought two ministers to preach the gospel of salvation to them, and a number of books which would teach them the way to Heaven. The Indians after a pause replied it was kind, they would consider it, which took fourteen days. During this time they would not hear these ministers preach, though proposed. When the fourteen days expired the Indians asked if they had no dark people amongst them, whether they preached the gospel of salvation to them, whether they gave them those good books which would teach them the way to Heaven, and whether they treated them as slaves or brethren. Being answered in the negative as to the latter, the Indians replied, go home first; preach the gospel of salvation to them, give them those books which will teach them the way to Heaven, treat them as brethren and not as slaves, and then come and preach the gospel to us. In consequence of which they directly returned, and one of the Members of Congress who was present, being a slave-holder, was so affected that he set all his

slaves free, fourteen in number. (When I came back to the city I waited upon this Member of Congress to inquire more fully into this matter, when he readily and fully confirmed the same. I never experienced greater kindness from the Indians. I had not only their horses to ride, but a guide from place to place. The natives would not let me carry my portmanteau, nor scarcely go over a bridge that seemed dangerous, but offer to carry me over in their arms, though I would not suffer them. When I lodged with the natives they built a large fire in the room I lodged in, just at bed-time, and always renewed it in the middle of the night, and the family was remarkably still, whether up or in bed.

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IN the instalment of Joseph Clark's narrative published last The week, two interesting persons are mentioned. John Marsillac whom he refers to is no doubt Jean de Marsillac, who is a well-known figure in connection with the little company of Friends at Congenies, in the south of France. He was of a French family, "ennobled ennobled " for military services, and had himself been a soldier from his childhood. But he heard of the people called Friends through a traveler in America, inquired about them, secured after long inquiry a copy of Barclay's "Apology," and ultimately quit the army, and about 1783 cast in his lot with the Congenies Friends. In November, 1685, he came to London on their behalf, and established a connection for them with Friends in that city, which has ever since been maintained. It appears that in 1797 he was visiting this country.

Hendrick Aupaumut, whom Joseph Clark met among the Indians, belonged to the Stockbridge band, who were Mohegans, and of the same family (the Algonquin) as our Lenape, or Delaware, Indians. Hendrick Aupaumut wrote an "Account" of the Indians, which is published in Volume 2 of the Memoirs of the Pennsylvania Historical Society, and he is often cited as an authority concerning his people. The Stockbridge Indians were so called because they removed from the place of that name in Massachusetts.

(Conclusion to follow.)

ATTENDANCE OF MEETINGS.

Paper read at Penn's Grove Young Friends' Association. CAN we be consistent and useful members of Society, and not attend our meetings for worship and discipline with a good degree of regularity when health permits?

The Society of Friends from its organization to the present time has in its religious meetings for worship acknowledged the equality of its members in the exercise of their gifts, and that each has one or more talents committed to his care, for the use and increase of which they are held responsible by the Great Giver.

Under this ruling each member has a position in Society that cannot be filled by any one else; and as far as they are derelict in filling their respective positions they and Society are both losers thereby.

What is the object of our religious meetings? When the principles for which our Society stands were struggling in the minds and hearts of its founders they felt the need of assembling together oftener than the Sabbath days, to encourage and sustain each other in their work of love and Gospel teaching, which frequently brought them into deep trials and suffering for conscience' sake.

Under these conditions, as they waited in silence before their Heavenly Leader to renew their strength they were drawn into close sympathy and deep love.

for each other, which renewed their faith and gave tone and vigor, nerve and heart, to the tearing down of the strongholds of sin, and establishing God in man through the Gospel, which the Apostle declared is "The power of God unto salvation."

You may say those turbulent times are past; and our fathers having won the victory, they bequeathed to us religious liberty, which largely removes the necessity for concerted action and religious communion.

But are there no more fields to be won ? Has the enemy of soul life ceased in his striving and left us all conquerors? How is it with the "Golden Rule?" Always observed? And how about that impetuous nature? Always held in subjection to the Christian impulse? How about that vivacious nature? which though good within itself, ungoverned leads into excesses and many things of a doubtful character? How about integrity in dealings, and desires and actions for worldly gain? All straight beyond a doubt?

And lastly but not least: How much time is allotted to soul culture outside of seasons appointed for associated worship of God?

Now in view of the answers that truth demands to these queries we hold there is yet need of a closer communion and walking with God, to make us useful and consistent members of Society, and we know of no better way to attain this end than by social religious worship at stated periods, for during these seasons of quietness the mind can better retire from the turmoil of active life and enter into self-examination, feeling the benign influence of kindred spirits, and perchance the troubled waters of a wrestling spirit may hear the Master's voice whisper in the spiritual ear or proclaim through his human instruments that which meets the Witness in the regenerate heart.

This is a review of the question from the standpoint of the individual; now we must consider its bearing upon Society.

There is probably no one thing more discouraging to the casual attender of religious meetings, than the small percentage of the members present upon ordinary occasions. And when we look around and see those who are conspicuous by their absence here always prompt and attentive to wordly and financial interests, we are impressed with the feeling that they are not improving the talents committed to their keeping; and in consequence of the loss sustained by Society on account of their delinquency they are not consistent, useful members.

We seldom find a member of our Society who is not concerned and desirous that our religious meetings should be preserved; and at the same time there are many who are not giving the encouragement and support which are due from useful and consistent members.

We hear a multitude of excuses rendered for habitual absence from meetings. Late rising is a very prominent one, yet upon any other day of the week any hour that it is necessary to arise for the proper transaction of business is easily attained. We may often feel that it will be just as profitable to us with

less exertion to remain at home and read, but that is purely a selfish motive, withholding from the meeting that which it has a right to expect of us. Trying to shift the responsibility upon other members of the family, when we could attend as well as they, is both dwarfing our talents and robbing the meeting. We can well afford to entrust our outward affairs to competent agents, but when it comes to building against the ravages of time, and filling up the measure of our inheritance from the Divine, it is a work of individual faith and faithfulness.

The silent meeting, and lack of anything to interest or entertain, is made a plea for absence. They who find a lack of life in silent meetings should remember they and others who remain at home without good reasons are partly responsible for the dearth of spiritual life, and possibly for the lack of Gospel testimony, for it is not a part of God's plan to inspire his instruments to bear testimony to empty benches. '

Whatever effort may be made to render valid excuses for dereliction of duty to our meetings for worship, the lack of religious fervor outweighs them all.

Then comes the consideration of our duties in connection with our meetings for business, but the proposition before us is so very clear to our minds that it seems scarcely worth while to enter into any discussion of the matter.

We find very many members of our Society who do not take sufficient interest in the disciplinary order to remember when the business meetings are held, or are too much engrossed in their own worldly affairs to arrange their business to attend; in consequence of which they can be of very little value to those meetings, and are not consistent members, because they leave the burdens of Society upon a few when they should share in them.

In consequence of the great amount of committee work to be performed for our business meetings, and the general practice of appointing those only who are present, those who are habitually absent are placed out of the line of useful workers; and this fact has its reaction in a loss of individual interest, and possibly an unjust charge that the business meetings are run and controlled by a few members.

In conclusion, we would say, when our members become inspired with religious zeal comparable to the thought devoted to business affairs, the expenditure of time and money on sports and other doubtful entertainments, the excesses in social life, and gratification of pampered and abnormal appetites, our meetings will be seasons of spiritual life and religious growth.

SAMUEL H. BROOMELL.

Do not wait for extraordinary opportunities for good actions, but make use of common situations.Goethe.

IDEALS make blessed discontent,-not murmuring, not repining, but aspiration. A love for that which is better is divine in man.-H. W. Beecher.

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It would be difficult to find any scripture that more completely exemplifies the falsity of depending upon the efficacy of forms and ceremonies, upon sacrifices and burnt offerings, than that selected for consideration to-day.

The custom of offering sacrifice was practiced at a very early period in the history of the organized church, and being followed so persistently by the members thereof; it did not fail in making such impress on the minds of men, and to such a degree, that they came to recognize it as a necessity; and at the time of writing this Epistle, there was need to make use of plain condemnatory language that men might be turned to practices which would be more acceptable in the Divine sight.

Notwithstanding this plain writing, and the existence of it for almost nineteen centuries, there still prevails in the teaching of men the prominent thought of the efficacy of such sacrifice. The customs of the earlier races have made their impressions upon succeeding generations, and so firmly have these been fixed, it seems difficult to give them up. When these people felt the call to make an offering, they at once prepared to take the life of that which was to be offered, overlooking the fact that it was in fulfillment of the duties of life, and in its development, that men were to receive their reward.

Psalmist, Prophet, and Seer, had as mouthpieces of God, declared that he had no pleasure in burnt offerings and sacrifices, these having authority only by man's interpretation of the Law, which as had also been declared, made nothing perfect. Man was endowed with a new and better hope, "Christ in him the hope of glory." Christ in man,—his life, his strength, the quickening power of his soul. Birth, life, growth, development, perfection, and fruition, mark the different eras of our being, and each in its turn contributes towards the completion of that which is to follow. Decay and death belong to the material world, and only come after the period allotted for life, wherein there has been that service rendered which in the Divine economy is made necessary.

After the ratification of this new covenant, long since promised, wherein the law was to be put in the heart, and written in the mind, the shadowy dispensation of the outward law was superseded by this higher one, and under the operation of this inward cleansing power, arising from the Divine birth in the individual soul, there will be such a renewal of life experienced, as will enable the recipient measurably to know the value of the promise that all former sins and transgressions would be blotted out of remembrance.

This is in harmony with the true intent and purpose of our Creator. It is the carrying out of his will. Being, acting, and doing all in accord with the revealed will of the Father, made known in the secret

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